‘Everything on the table’: Burke weighs deregistration of CFMEU construction division amid revelations

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke is considering deregistering the construction division of the CFMEU.

Burke said on Sunday that he was exploring all the options within his power, after this masthead revealed allegations of serious misconduct within the controversial union.

The Workplace Relations minister is one of the most senior figures in the Albanese government and politically close to the broader labour movement. He warned that the “absolutely abhorrent” revelations had prompted him to request a briefing from his department on “every single power” available to him as minister to act if the union failed to adequately address the allegations.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke at Parliament House.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka resigned on Friday before publication of the first in a series of stories by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes about close ties between the Victorian and NSW divisions of the construction union and underworld figures and bikie gangs.

Some of these figures worked as union officials on state and federally funded infrastructure projects.

Two of Australia’s largest and most influential employer groups, the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Industry Group, called for an independent judicial inquiry into the union, saying its leaders needed to be called to account.

While the business community called on the government to bring back the Australian Building and Construction Commission – a Malcolm Turnbull-era creation loathed by the union movement – Burke signalled it was highly unlikely Labor would restore the office, which it abolished in 2022.

His comments went further than those of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who on Saturday welcomed Setka’s resignation and noted he had kicked him out of the Labor Party in 2019.

“I want to make absolutely clear: everything is on the table,” Burke said in an interview on the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“The fact that John Setka went is a start. It is in no way the end of what needs to be done. The criminal elements, for example, people involved in outlaw motorcycle gangs having the place of delegates on site – completely unacceptable. The extent of the criminal elements that have been there, I find absolutely abhorrent.”

The workplace minister said he would look at three things: the advice and the extent of his powers, the allegations, and the extent to which the union had acted to address the allegations.

Burke confirmed he was exploring deregistration: “I have sought advice on all my powers, including that one, including appointing administrators to the different branches, I’ve sought advice on all those powers. I’m not taking anything off the table.”

But he cautioned that acting too quickly to deregister the construction division of the CFMEU “might sound tough” but could create new problems “because you end up with people with even less regulation around them”.

“The only reason I can intervene is because we’re talking about registered organisations,” he said.

Burke said federal police, working with state police, would deal with some elements of the allegations while the Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Commission would also probably be involved.

In 2012, then-workplace minister Bill Shorten threatened the scandal-plagued Health Services Union with deregistration if the union’s senior leadership was not cleared out.

In April of that year, the ACTU voted to suspend the HSU’s membership on the basis of corruption. Shorten then successfully applied to the Federal Court to have an administrator appointed to run the Eastern branch of the union.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan is yet to issue a statement or respond to questions on the CFMEU revelations.

On Sunday, Victorian Local Government Minister Melissa Horne said the state government would not “jump to conclusions when we do not have that full body of evidence”.

“It’s clear that there have been a number of CFMEU officials who have not done the right things. They have been bad actors in this space.”

She said some matters had been referred to Victoria Police and Allan would respond later in the week.

Asked whether Victorian Labor should stop accepting donations from the CFMEU until the matters were investigated, Horne said that would be up to the party. She said she would not accept any donations for her re-election campaign.

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto called on Sunday for Albanese and Burke to place the CFMEU into immediate administration while the union was investigated. He accused the premier of being in hiding over the allegations.

“These are taxpayer-funded projects and what the Allan Labor government has allowed to continue is criminal. Bikie gang members [are] working on taxpayer-funded projects,” Pesutto said. “Where is the Victorian premier?”

Acting federal opposition leader Sussan Ley called on all levels of the Labor Party nationwide to stop accepting donations from the union.

“They need to be clear and transparent about what donations they have accepted and make a very strong statement that that will end.”

Burke’s anger over criminals working for the CFMEU challenges national secretary Zach Smith’s assertion on Friday that the union “unapologetically believes in second chances” and construction was one of the few industries where those with a criminal history could find steady job. Smith also said “if there is credible evidence of delegates or officials committing crimes, we will report them. If allegations are proven, people will be thrown out.”

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said “billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money has been wasted over decades due to the antics of the CFMEU” and called for a royal commission into allegations against the union.

Business Council of Australia chief Bran Black also urged an independent judicial inquiry into the CFMEU.

“An inquiry of this nature would have the power to compel documents and witness, which is critical if we are to genuinely get to the bottom of how union officials and criminal organisations have allegedly worked together to profit from government and taxpayer-funded projects,” he said.

“Until these allegations are properly investigated and resolved, the CFMEU shouldn’t be able to negotiate any arrangement or contract with any government in the country.”

Burke said the Albanese government was not wrong to abolish the commission. “The whole concept of it was wrong from the beginning. Every year of the ABCC, productivity in the construction industry went backwards. You compare the days lost to industrial disputes when the ABCC was in place to what we have now, it has now fallen by 30 per cent.”

For more on this investigation read online or watch 60 Minutes from 8pm.